


gardenias in our hair

by drinkofwourder



Category: Bon Appétit Test Kitchen RPF, Chef RPF
Genre: A Fluffier Take On Hanahaki Disease, Brad's A Witch, Cunnilingus, F/M, Farmer's Market, Fingering, Hanahaki Disease (Sort Of), Hand Job, Mild Smut, Not Super Descriptive Smut, Witchcraft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-12
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2020-06-26 18:38:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19774054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drinkofwourder/pseuds/drinkofwourder
Summary: a man like him probably shouldn't exist outside of a fairy tale,or how claire fell for the green witch at the local farmer's market.





	1. one.

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, Witch!Brad was one of the first ideas I had for this fandom. This isn't the fic I had originally but I think it's more fun.
> 
> Fun fact: Gardenias mean "you're lovely" in flower language. And, if you're not familiar with hanahaki disease, it's when a character has an unrequited love and it causes them to throw up flowers, having to choose to either die for love or get the flowers removed and never love again. It's generally an angst bomb and I do like the trope as it is, but I don't want to write that for these two. Instead, Brad grows flowers in his hair because of his feelings.
> 
> In honor of the two part donuts video, I have a two-parter of my own haha. The rating for this one might change later, so keep an eye out for that.
> 
> Enjoy!

She supposed it made sense that the Farmer’s Market took place rain or shine, sweltering heat or freezing cold. Nothing could slow it down or stop it, the people working it wanted to make sales regardless and they all had tents anyway.

As Claire clutched her umbrella that wasn’t really doing a great job of keeping herself entirely dry, she figured that it didn’t mean she had to go every week. But really fresh produce in New York City of all places was a lot to pass up, and she had a bunch of biscuits cooling in her apartment that couldn’t just go un-strawberried.

She liked going to the market, okay? She liked fresh fruit and vegetables, and she liked supporting small farms in the area. Her traitorous mind immediately informed her that she liked supporting one farm more than the others, but she shoved it out of her mind as she inspected some lettuce at a booth that wasn’t the one she normally went to.

It was fine, Claire thought, standard romaine leaves. It would make a perfectly adequate salad, just like the slightly under ripened strawberries would make a fine strawberry shortcake filling if she added a bunch of sugar.

She wasn’t going to the Farmer’s Market to see one person in particular and she could prove it by just buying this produce. It would be fine, her friends wouldn’t make fun of her for, as they said, ‘literally running’ to _his_ booth.

So she was eying up some inferior produce, turning it over in her hand like she was hoping that it would actually get better, less wilted, when a voice broke through her thoughts. He was incredibly loud and uncaring as to what people thought of him, boisterous and delighted, and Claire knew who it was in an instant.

“Claire! Hey, Claire!”

She turned to face him and, despite the rain, it was like the clouds had parted and the fucking sun came bursting through. Claire couldn’t help the smile that started to spread across her face.

“What’re ya doin’ over there, Claire. That stuffs’ crap compared to mine,” The woman behind the table scoffed and she could see him wince, laughing despite herself, “uh, no offense, ma’am!”

But she was setting down the inferior lettuce despite the owner of the booth still trying to make a sale, ignoring her in favor of walking right over to the Leone Farm stand, Brad grinning broadly at her.

“C’mon, what were you doin’ over there. I thought I took care of you fine, guess I gotta work harder!”

He leaned over and her eyes caught the sight of flowers decorating his hair. Claire had rarely seen him without his hat and she definitely hadn’t seen delicate white begonias adorning his head.

“Just some of the ole intuition, Claire, but I thought you could use some strawberries.”

He pulled up a big box of them, beautiful and perfectly ripe, grinning when her eyes went wide. He always seemed to know what she was there for, always seemed to have what she wanted to cook with.

“Oh, wow,” She breathed, running a finger over a particularly ripe, red berry, “yeah, I was going to make some strawberry shortcakes. These are perfect, Brad, how did you know?”

Brad’s eyes seemed to have a certain sparkle to them and he grinned widely, bouncing on his heels.

“Y’know, just a hunch. Plus, you always seem to like the strawbs, so I saved you a bunch. Had ole Vinny-Bo-Binny keep the nicest ones on the truck cause I knew you were gonna want some. Hunzi almost put em out too but I saved them at the last second.”

She looked around for his long suffering farm hands but they were nowhere to be found. Brad followed her eyes, smiling at her.

“Aw, I sent them home early. Probably hitting up one of those bars with all those expensive drinks here in the city. Not much going on here once the rain kicked in, it’s just me. And, uh. You, of course.”

She didn’t really bother trying to speak, not when Brad had so much to say. Like it had been months since they had seen each other, not just a week, and like they were best friends or...well, something else, like she wasn’t just another one of his customers. Maybe she was reading too far into things, he was terribly friendly, friendlier than any one person had any right to be.

“What’s with the flowers?” She finally asked, interrupting him as he talked about garlic scapes.  
“Hm, what flowers?”  
“The ones in your hair.”

His eyes went wide, hands flying up to the top of his head as he felt the gardenias under his fingers.

“O-Oh! Uh, that’s...that’s right! I forgot I put those there,” He forced out a laugh, “some kid thought they’d look perfect as an eh-sess-ory, what do you think, Claire?”  
“They’re pretty,” She hummed, looking up at the flowers, “I didn’t know you grew gardenias, they’re some of my favorite flowers.”

Brad looked a little startled at that for a second and then shook his head as if he was physically shaking something off of him. The flowers stayed in his hair and he grinned broadly, leaning over the table.

“Great eye, Claire! I thought you’d might like them, I picked some extras in case you’d want them.”

And then he was reaching under the table and leaning in again, tucking one of them behind her ear before she could react. Claire could feel her cheeks heat up, looking away from his way-too-blue eyes.

“I think they look even better on you.” He hummed, voice softer than she had ever heard it.

He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear along with the flower, fingers brushing against her skin in a way that had her flushing a deep shade of scarlet.

“On the house of course.” Brad murmured, somehow softer than before.

Brad pulled more gardenias out from under his table, placing a bunch of them in with her strawberries and salad greens, the order that he just knew she wanted. Somehow, intuitively, the exact things she would’ve asked for, already labeled with her name.

Maybe he wanted to learn more about her, things that he couldn’t just guess. Maybe she wanted to learn everything about him, the farmer who was wringing his big, work roughened hands together. He was too big to be that gentle, his booth could hardly contain his energy, but his fingers were as soft as feathers as they brushed against her skin.

They had matching gardenias adorning their hair and he was looking at her like she was something special, and she never said that she really thought things over when she really wanted them. Want and _need_ overriding common sense.

“Come over to my place.” Claire blurted out before she could stop herself.

It was forward, it was way too forward, and Brad’s mouth fell open slightly, heat rising to his cheeks. Oh God, that implied things that she didn’t necessarily want to imply. Not that she hadn’t thought about it but it was way too forward considering that they hadn’t seen each other outside of the market. There were people on the subway that she saw more than Brad, although none of them gave her flowers or made her laugh like he did. 

Maybe her friends were right. Maybe she was running towards him, running towards that thing between them.

Claire realized that she hadn’t said anything, staring as the invite hung between them.

“Uh, I mean. I’m going to have way too many strawberry shortcakes for just myself. Do you want to come over and have some? You...uh. You don’t have to eat it at my place or I could just bring some down for you but I know you’re closing up soon and it’s going to be a little while before they’re ready and--”

Brad interrupted her rambling with a his hand resting on hers, the hand she didn’t know she had slammed on the table until it was covered with his own.

“Claire. I’d love to.” He chuckled, grinning at her.

And, somehow, that made her panic even more.


	2. two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating change is for mild smutty goodness. And, because there's going to be a part three, I'm taking on a third part to this as well where I'll go into more detail about Brad being a witch and having a variation of Hanahaki disease. But that's going to be a pretty short chapter with just some expose and some mild kissing lol. 
> 
> Enjoy!

She told him her address or, to be more accurate, pointed at the building right next to the market and practically running off with her order after yelling the apartment number, trying to think of anything but the way Brad had looked at her. After all, it was just a platonic exchange of desserts, nothing more and nothing less.

Claire took the stairs instead of the elevator because it felt somewhat cathartic to frantically run up four flights with a heavy box, like she was doing something other than freaking out after inviting this man into her house to eat seasonal desserts. Cardio or weights or whatever, it was better than standing in the elevator and feeling like she was just waiting for something to happen.

Maybe she was waiting for something to happen. 

She made it up to her apartment, setting the box on the kitchen counter and immediately setting off to work because it was better than doing nothing and she needed to have it done. She set the gardenias in a vase, admiring them for a second before setting off to wash the strawberries. 

Claire hulled and quartered them, a pile of berries quickly growing in a bowl. They were perfect and her eyes fluttered shut as she tried one of them. They only needed a little bit of sugar to macerate them, as well as a pinch of salt to balance it out. Claire thought about getting fancy for a moment, perhaps dipping into the bottle of good balsamic vinegar, but she thought against it because it was for _Brad_ and Brad didn’t really seem like a fancy guy. Plus, the berries were perfect without adding anything.

She whipped the cream next, once again feeling the need to do something after she finished the berries. Empty hands led to empty heads, which would lead to more overthinking and that was the last thing she needed to do. Claire had put a bowl in the freezer before leaving to go to the market, as well as a whisk, and she dumped cold heavy cream and started to work it. She opted to whisk it by hand, as if the extra couple of minutes it would take would matter so much in the long run. 

Soon enough, she had a bowl full of whipped cream, macerating strawberries, and nothing else to do to keep her mind at bay.

She didn’t have to wait for very long luckily, the buzzer for her apartment going off. Claire was moving before she could think about it, letting him up and into her personal space.

Claire looked around the room, wondering if she should’ve cleaned up more, thinking that he probably didn’t care too much. He was just there for some strawberry shortcake, nothing more. Brad had been so generous as to give her all those nice strawberries for far less than they should be worth, hadn’t charged her for the gardenias that sat in a jam jar on her counter. It was just thanking him for his generosity and perhaps making steps towards becoming friends.

A sharp knock broke her out of her thoughts, a big fist against the wood of her door, and she was moving to let him into her home.

Brad had a bashful smile on his face, no flowers in his hair, and a bottle of wine in his hand, he must’ve purchased it before coming up. It was cold on her fingers as he passed it to her, condensation and rain slicking up the surface of the bottle.

“I uh. Wasn’t sure what kind of wine you’d like, but I figured some Pinot Grigio was a good choice for the summer. The liquor store nearby didn’t have much else anyway.” He said, following her as she led him towards the kitchen.  
“Pinot Grigio is good.”

She really didn’t know what to say to him now that he wasn’t behind his table at the market. Brad was even taller than she thought he was, towering over her and leaning on the table to look her in the eye as they made conversation while she plated their desserts. Brad poured the wine without needing to be asked.

A part of her thought that the wine changed things, the inclusion of it making it feel less like just friends sharing a dessert. A part of her thought she was being ridiculous, she had wine with friends all the time, so this was no different.

But it was different because it was Brad, and she couldn’t help but stare at his big hands as he pulled the cork out of the bottle, fingers splayed out over the slick surface. Her mouth was dry as she accepted the glass from him, trying not to flush as he grinned and held his glass out for her to clink against hers.

They sat together on the couch, eating and talking. Well, Brad was doing most of the talking, Claire nodding and getting a word in edgewise every one in awhile. It would’ve been annoying if it were anyone else, but it was somehow endearing on Brad, and she found herself smiling and laughing at most of the things he said.

“Now, I’m not much of a dessert sorta guy, Claire, but this is pretty damn good. You a baker or something?” He said after cramming too big of a bite into his mouth, mumbling around biscuit and strawberries.  
“Oh, uh, yeah. I’m a pastry chef at this restaurant in town.”

He grinned at that, swallowing his mouthful of food before speaking again.

“High roller, I love it!”  
“Not a dessert guy, huh?” She said, interrupting him for one.  
“Huh?

Claire set her plate aside, smirking up at him. Brad looked a little bashful at that, flushing slightly as he looked down at his plate.

“Oh, yeah. I’m uh. Not super into sweet things.”  
“I did invite you here for dessert.”  
“Yeah, it would’ve been rude to refuse, Claire.”  
“Uh huh.”

She found herself liking the way he looked when she teased him, looking anywhere but at her. But Claire was looking at him, and she really saw him for once. Sitting on her couch, clutching a now-empty plate and a fork that both looked tiny in his hands as she shifted closer, right into his personal space. Or he was in hers, on her couch, looking back at her in a way that made her feel warm. His too-blue eyes told her that she was important, and he knew how to look at her to make her feel important as he took up space in her apartment like he belonged. 

Because, in a way, Brad did belong. Claire wanted him there, wanted him to take up her space, to look at her like she was important. She just wanted to find a way to tell him that he was important too

She watched the gardenias bloom in his hair, and she didn’t quite understand what it meant. At the same time, she knew exactly what it meant because she felt like gardenias could bloom in her hair as well if it were possible.

Instead, she looked at him and smiled, speaking softly as if she didn’t want to scare him. Because he did look scared in some way, eyes on her like she could break.

“Your flowers are back.” She said, taking his plate from him.

Brad’s blue eyes went wide, almost comically so, fingers flying up to touch the delicate white blooms.

“Guess I’ve been caught.” Brad said, trying to joke despite the fact that he looked panicked.  
“I like them.”  
“Yeah?”  
“Yeah.”

She set his plate aside, leaning in closer to him. Her fingers moved up, running over the gardenias as they bloomed. Brad leaned into her touch, like she was touching skin.

And then he was cupping her face, tilting it until the tips of their noses were brushing together, looking deep into her eyes. He was moving slow, deliberately so, like he was giving her the time to push him away.

She didn’t want to push him away. 

“What are they?”  
“Hm?” He hummed, moving in a bit further, noses sliding past each other.  
“Your gardenias.”  
“Claire, I wanna tell you but I just…really want to kiss you right now.”  
“Please? And then we can.”

Brad sighed, breath ghosting out over her lips in a way that made her shiver, and he didn’t move back.

“They grow ‘cause I like ya, Saffitz."  
"You like me?"

He made a noise, caught somewhere between a laugh and a sigh, strangled in the back of his throat. And then he closed the gap between them, pressing his lips against hers.

Claire still couldn't understand the flowers but she was far more focused on kissing him back, fingers sliding between hair and gardenias to bring him in closer.

It was a good kiss, gentle but firm enough that it left her wanting more. Brad seemed to know everything else about her by instinct, why not the way she wanted to be kissed as well?

She broke the kiss after a few moments, pulling back a bit but not entirely out of his space.

"You're going to have to tell me more about the flowers after."  
"After?"

She grinned and moved to sit in his lap, straddling his waist and making herself right at home. Claire kissed him again, tongue slipping into his mouth for a second before she pulled back again.

"Yes. After."  
“After.” He hummed, hands sliding to grip her waist, eyes wide.

It didn’t take him long to get the picture, kissing her back, hands sliding freely over her body. The gardenias bloomed freely on his head as his tongue slid into her mouth, grazing against hers, making her gasp into his mouth. 

“I’ve wanted this for awhile.” She admitted against his mouth, grinding down against him and making them both gasp, his hand starting to slip under her shirt.  
“How long?”  
“S-Since the first time I saw you.”  
“Fuck, Claire.” He groaned, moving down to kiss at her neck, beard brushing against her skin.

He nipped at her skin, groaning and bucking his hips up as Claire started a rhythm that they were far too old for, rutting together like it was the only thing they knew.

Claire knew that they were moving a bit too fast, she hadn’t seen his whole body until about an hour ago and now she was climbing him like a tree, ready to do anything and everything with him. It was too soon but she wanted this man who grew flowers in his hair, and she had wanted him for a long time.

“C’mon, Claire. Lemme take care of you, babe.”

The pet name sent heat through her stomach, and she groaned softly.

“Please. God, please, Brad.” 

He nodded at that, hands on her hips moving her until she was laying back on the couch, staring up on her. The ease of his movements sent more heat through her and she could feel herself getting even wetter, soaking through her panties. 

Claire had thought it stupid that she had put on her nicest pair of panties that morning, thought it foolish that she was expecting something, but she was secretly pleased with herself because Brad was rucking up her skirt without second thought, eyes going wide at the black lace.

“Oh God, Claire,” He groaned, fingers moving reverently up her thighs and to the wettest part of the panties, “fuck, you’re so wet.”

Brad didn’t waste any time, drawing her panties down her legs and tossing them aside, eyes blown wide at the sight of her.

And then he was sliding two fingers right into her at the same time he was ducking down and pressing his tongue to her clit. He certainly wasn’t wasting any time, moving like he was afraid she was going to stop him at any moment. Instead, she moaned loudly and slid her fingers back into his hair amongst the gardenias, holding him there as he pushed his fingers into her and sucked at her clit.

He was good, too good for her to last much longer with the war of desire and sheer need coursing through her. Soon enough, she could feel herself growing close and she wished it could last longer but his tongue was too good and his fingers curled up right where she needed them. Claire’s hips stuttered up once, twice, grinding against his face, and then she was gasping his name, holding him in place as she got off against him.

And then he was pulling her up, kissing her again, and she could taste herself on his tongue alongside the wine they shared and the strawberry shortcake, head spinning. Brad had a gentle grip on her wrist, guiding her to the fly of his pants.

“God, Claire, please. I need you, please.” He gasped out, hips bucking up into her hand.

Claire moved quickly, unzipping his pants and pulling him out through the fly. He was hard and huge in her hand, and she got to work, jerking him off and looking in his eyes. 

“You’re so beautiful, Claire. God, I want you so bad. Since the first time I saw you, c’mon, please.”

She stroked him quickly, hand almost impossibly small against his cock. He thrust up into her hand and, for a second, she wondered if he would even fit inside of her but she figured that they could make it work. Because she did want him inside of her, she wanted him to fuck her, but that could wait. For now, she bent over and tentatively took the head of his cock in her mouth, sucking as she stroked the rest of it.

“Oh _fuck_.” He gasped out.

And then he was cumming onto her tongue, the taste foreign but not entirely unwelcome. She swallowed his cum, moaning around him.

Brad pulled her up and kissed her, the taste of both of them mingling together as she kissed him back, leaning into him and kissing him until they both had to pull back to breathe. Their foreheads rested together still, and she looked into wide blue eyes.

“You’re still going to have to tell me about the flowers.”

He laughed at that, breathless.

“Yeah, I know, Claire. Just...give me a bit.”

And she nodded, tilting her head up until he got the idea and kissed her again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> I actually made a twitter now because I figured I should have a place to talk about these things. Feel free to request to follow [ @drinkofwourder ](https://twitter.com/drinkofwourder).


	3. three.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unexpected third part for the unexpected third part of donuts. It's short and is pretty much just Brad explaining what he is and how it all works.

“Tell me.” She asked, not even ten minutes later.

Claire could tell that he was almost annoyed by her non-stop questioning but, after all was said and done, she really couldn’t think about anything but the gardenias that grew in his hair. 

They sat on the couch together, her tucked into his side, fingers sliding together, talking about nothing important. She just wanted to know everything about him, she couldn’t help her curiosity. After all, he was sitting on her couch after just having made her cum, with the flowers still very much in his hair.

“Alright, alright. I told ya that the flowers grow because I like ya. Which is absolutely true but you don’t really see everyone walking around with a head fulla roses ‘cause they have a little crush on someone.” He gestured towards the flowers, bobbing his head.

Claire knew that he moved in a way that could only be described as exaggerated, but it was different to see it up close. For a second, she worried that she might have to duck an errant hand, but it was just another thing she found endearing about him.

“Well, they grow because I like you...a lot. Like, a lot a lot, Claire,” Brad rambled, blushing and looking away from her, “and they also grow because I’m uh. I’m a witch.”

Well, that was unexpected. Claire’s eyebrows shot up, mouth gaping open.

“You’re a witch?”  
“Yeah, Claire.”  
“Like. With the pointy hat and a wand?”

He snorted at that, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a stick. It was carved and had a tinge of green in the wood, like it had been dyed. When she looked closer, she realized that it had been hand-carved with delicate vines, and she found herself reaching out to touch it before she could stop herself, fingers running over the surface of it. Claire expected to feel something for a moment, a surge of energy, and she was almost a little disappointed when it felt like she was just touching a piece of wood.

“No pointy hats, I prefer the ole goobalini or a ball cap, but I do have a wand.”  
“Can I try it?”  
“Heh, no, you won’t be able to. I mean, unless you’re hiding some secret magic abilities that I wasn’t able to sniff out from you. Us magic types can generally feel if someone else can use magic.”

But he was handing it to her anyway. It was heavier than she expected and she gave it an experimental wave, once again a little disappointed by the lack of anything happening. Brad took it back from her, grabbing her hand and putting it face up, waving his wand once. She watched as the wand glowed a soft green, a gardenia blooming in the center of her palm, and she gasped softly.

She looked back up at him, blushing from how fond he looked of her. He tucked the bloom into her hair, just behind her ear, and leaned in to kiss her again. Despite the fact that they had just gotten each other off, she blushed like it was the first time, and he grinned that dopey, perfect grin of his.

“You’re cute. Any other questions, Claire?”  
“Do you use it for work?”  
“Yeah, my magic helps with that. Crops grow in better and get eaten less by bugs n’ birds. But I can’t just wave my wand and have all the plants come in, I still gotta plant them and do most of the wourdering by myself.”

Brad’s fingers settled on her leg, sliding up her thigh a bit to trace patterns on her skin. His fingers were warm and she hummed softly, spreading her legs to let him push up her skirt just a bit. He wasn’t angling for anything, not yet, just touching her for the sake of being able to touch her.

“Do Vince and Matt know?”  
“‘Know?’ They’re technically my apprentices in the ‘ole magic arts. Not very many green witches in my neck of the woods, so they’re stuck with me,” He laughed at that, “They’re good though, I wanna keep them around for as long as I can.”

She couldn’t picture the two of them doing magic, they had just both looked like normal young men. Then again, she could hardly picture Brad doing magic even though she had seen him do it with her own two eyes, and she certainly wouldn’t have guessed that he was a witch.

Claire wondered if it should’ve been a deal breaker, if it should’ve made her nervous around him. She had heard whisperings of magic but had just written it off as a hoax. But there was a witch and he was in her house, sitting on her couch, touching her and starting to kiss up her neck. But it didn’t make her nervous, it was almost exciting, the tall, handsome, friendly farmer at the market who had quite literally charmed the pants off of her was a witch. And that witch was making himself very comfortable in her house, and she wanted him to be comfortable there, she wanted him to come back. 

She wanted to see him again, more than just once a week behind his table, waving her over from some inferior fruit. Wanted it to be more than a one time thing, wanted it to be a permanent thing. Even if it meant moving to live on a farm in New Jersey, she’d take it if it meant being with him.

But she was getting ahead of herself.

“I have one more question.”  
“Shoot.” He mumbled, nosing at the patch of skin under her ear.

Claire looked down at him, pulling him back up for another kiss with fingers on his bearded chin. It felt right, being with him, witchcraft and flowers aside or included, she had butterflies in her stomach like she was like some sort of school girl. If Brad could make her feel like this from just a kiss, she wanted to know all the ways he could make her feel.

“Stay the night?”

And he laughed softly, nodding and kissing her again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you've enjoyed this little series and thank you for reading it! I fell in love with the concept of witch!Brad from the very start, so I'm glad that I got to share it haha! I'll try to do less of an AU thing for my next one, although I'm chuckling at the idea of a crime AU where Brad goes by "the Rat King".
> 
> Like I said before, I have a twitter now. [ Find it here! ](https://twitter.com/drinkofwourder).

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it!


End file.
